TITLE-PAGE TO LUTHER’S “NEW TESTAMENT”
First used in 1522
From a copy in the British Museum

Vol. I., Plate 63.

THE FOUR EVANGELISTS
Woodcuts, and Initial Letters used on the first page of each gospel, in the 1523 edition of Luther’s New Testament
S D
From a copy in the British Museum

THE FOUR EVANGELISTS
Woodcuts, and Initial Letters used on the first page of each gospel, in the 1523 edition of Luther’s New Testament
D I
From a copy in the British Museum

In the same year, 1523, a second Basel publisher, Thomas Wolff, issued a quarto edition of Luther’s translation of the New Testament, in the decoration of which both Holbein and Lützelburger were employed. The title-page[[450]] shows Holbein’s fertility of invention, his power of dramatic representation, and his sense of style to the greatest advantage. In the centre of the upper border St. John is baptizing the Saviour in the river Jordan, the angel standing on the bank with his garments, and on either side are the symbols of the four Evangelists. The lower border contains Wolff’s device, a philosopher in a niche enjoining silence, his monogram, and the motto, “Digito Compesce Labellum,” and on either side of it the Vision of St. Peter and the Conversion of St. Paul, who, dressed in German costume, is flung from his horse. On the right-hand border St. Paul is shown on the island of Melita, shaking off the viper from his hand into the fire, and in the background the wreck of the ship; on the left-hand border is a representation of the Baptism of the Treasurer of the King of Ethiopia by St. Philip, while in the distance is depicted the journey of the same eunuch along a hilly road shaded by trees. He is riding in a small four-wheeled carriage, drawn by two horses tandem fashion, with the driver mounted on the after one—one of the methods of travelling in Holbein’s own day. This title-page is a masterpiece of the engraver’s art, and is signed “H.L.FVR.” on the footstool on which St. Paul is kneeling, in the lower border. Holbein also furnished twenty-one illustrations to the Revelation of St. John for the same edition,[[451]] which, however, for the most part were very badly cut, so that Lützelburger cannot have been the engraver of them. They were used again in Adam Petri’s folio New Testament of the same year. They are particularly interesting as representing the same subjects as those treated by Dürer in his first important work, which must have been known to Holbein, who, however, has borrowed very little in his rendering of the Visions. He shows less imagination and grandeur of conception than Dürer, but follows the text with even closer fidelity, and treats each subject with greater simplicity and clearness.[[452]] The last one of the series, the Angel showing the Saint the New Jerusalem (Pl. [70] (3)), contains a view of Lucerne with its covered bridge.

THE “CREATION OF EVE”

For Adam Petri’s reprint of Luther’s translation of the Old Testament, published in December 1523, for which a title-page was provided by Urs Graf, Holbein, in addition to numerous initial letters, was the designer of the large woodcut which was placed at the head of the first chapter of Genesis, representing the Creation of Eve,[[453]] a very beautiful conception, in which God the Father is uplifting Eve from the side of Adam, while a small angel tugs at his mantle. The earlier days of the Creation are also represented—the Earth as a small island with various animals upon it, surrounded by a strip of water containing fish, and round this again a ring of clouds and stars, and a final circle of angels, above whom the Almighty is shown again, blessing his work. In the four corners are placed the heads of the four winds. Several other illustrations were drawn by Holbein for this edition, but in most instances they are marred by bad cutting.

One of the finest of his designs for woodcuts is the one representing the Death of Cleopatra and the Sacrileges of Dionysius of Syracuse (Pl. [64]),[[454]] first used by Froben in 1523 as the title-page for several works by Erasmus. The framework, in the form of a sculptured monument in the Italian style, is exceptional among Holbein’s work as a book-illustrator, being shown in marked perspective as though seen from the right. At the foot, beneath an arch, the dying Cleopatra, at full length on the ground, holds an asp in each hand. On either side is represented an act of sacrilege on the part of the Tyrant of Syracuse. On the right he is reaching up to pluck off the golden beard from the statue of Æsculapius, and on the left he is robbing the statue of Jupiter of its golden mantle and ornaments. Above the frieze on the top are Cupids riding on dolphins. The figures throughout are finely conceived, and the Italian influence is marked.